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Old Time Radio Researchers GroupThe Whistler

THE WHISTLER

You're walking alone on the street at night, but then you hear another set of footsteps and a haunting tune being whistled by an unseen stranger. Fritz Lang used an similar premise in his 1930s German movie with Peter Lorre playing M, a psychopathic murderer of children. But the American radio series was even creepier. The unseen Whistler didn't kill anyone (that we know of), but he certainly loved watching murders take place, narrating them for us, and chuckling at the suffering of others instead of doing anything to stop it. Unlike M, he was never caught. He kept walking the streets every week for thirteen long years, whistling his ominous thirteen notes and telling us another tale of bizarre fate. Perhaps Fate is who the Whistler really was? He never provided any sir name, and the killer was usually punished by some twist of fate that only The Whistler seemed to expect.

It is very likely The Whistler was inspired by The Shadow, which began nearly a decade earlier. Like the Shadow, the Whistler seemed to enter and exit the criminal underworld without ever being seen. He would watch the evil doers carry out their schemes, yet they never saw him, even though he would tell us what they were thinking in their presence. His voice sounded equally sinister to The Shadow, too. It was was a slithering tenor, hissing the "s's" and often laughing "heh-heh-heh-hehheh!" at the foolishness of the guilty. Both series had similar opening lines: The Shadow "knew what evil lurked in the hearts of men", whereas The Whistler "knows many strange tales hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows." When Bill Forman served 1/2 year in the military, Marvin Miller substituted as The Whistler.

Also like The Shadow, several different actors played the title role over the course of The Whistler series. Bill Forman played it the most, but his announcer (Marvin Miller) substituted for him during the six months of his army duty (Buxton, 256). Gale Gordon and Joseph Kearns voiced the Whistler in earlier days, while Everett Clarke played the character in 1947 and Bill Johnstone did in 1948 (Dunning, 719).

The last similarity was the saddest one. Both series ended about the time frame (in the mid 1950s). Crime increased in the following decades, maybe because the guilty felt they were no longer being watched and could get away with murder. Or could it be that the Whistler is saving up some more great stories to tell us about in the future?



This Article courtesy of http://www.radiohorrorhosts.com/whistler.html.

This audio is part of the collection: Old Time Radio
It also belongs to collection: Radio Programs

Artist/Composer: Old Time Radio Researchers Group
Keywords: OTRR; Old Time Radio Researchers Group; Old Time Radio; OTRR Set; OTRR Certified Set; The Whistler; Whistler; Mystery; Drama; Anthology; Thrills; Adventure; Suspense; Bill Foreman; Foreman, Bill; Marvin Miller; Miller, Marvin; Gale Gordon; Gordon, Gale; Joseph Kearns; Kearns, Joseph; Everett Clarke; Clarke, Everett; Bill Johnstone; Johnstone, Bill; 1940s; 1950s; 1942; 1943; 1944; 1945; 1946; 1947; 1948; 1949; 1950; 1951; 1952; 1953; 1954; 1955; OTRR - 2012-04

Creative Commons license: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0

Notes

OLD TIME RADIO RESEARCHERS GROUP

This is a production of the Old Time Radio Researchers Group located at Old Time Radio Researchers Website (www.otrr.org) and the Yahoo! Group Old Time Radio Researchers.

It contains the most complete and accurate version of this series in the best sound possible at the time of creation. An updated version will be issued if more episodes or better sounding ones become available.

If you are interested in preserving Old Time Radio (OTR), you may wish to join the Old Time Radio Researchers Group at Yahoo.


Relax, listen, and enjoy!

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OTRR Definitions:

OTRR Certified Accurate -- A series that is Certified Accurate indicates that all the episodes are properly identified and labeled but that the series does not contain all known extant episodes.

OTRR Certified Complete -- A series that is Certified Complete is the highest level of certification available under the OTRR Certified Standards. This certification level implies that all the files in the series are Certified Accurate but also indicates that the series is as complete as possible – it includes all extant episodes.

OTRR Non-Certified -- A collection of shows that has not gone through the OTRR Certification process.

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Reviewer: cid92 - - November 24, 2012
Subject: Great Series
Love this series. Great work again by the OTRR. To the reviewer who said this was "ruined" and gave it one star. Have you looked at the single episode page where you can use the built in player (or a Flash version) to listen to the individual episodes? Instead of knocking this work with one star, do some searching first.

http://archive.org/details/OTRR_Whistler_Singles

Reviewer: WhyDidYourRuinTheWhistler - - November 19, 2012
Subject: Why Did You Ruin It
I was listening to The Whistler year-by-year one-by-one on my bookmarked page. Now, no years, so few episodes only 30 zip files with no references. You ruined a wonderful experience with your horrible changes.

Reviewer: nenslo - - June 10, 2012
Subject: Full list?
It would be extremely helpful to have a full listing of the contents of these. I have some 150 radio episodes and it would save a lot of hassle to know which discs I don't need to download, and what is on the discs with the videos.

Reviewer: Greybelt - - April 26, 2012
Subject: The Whistler
Some visitors have wondered where the radio show ends and the video files begin. The radio shows are on CDs 1-17, and the video files are in 18 to the end.

This was one of radio's greatest series, with some marvelous casts of the medium's best actors. It's finally together with well-researched dates and in nice quality sound.

Reviewer: bojim8088 - - April 20, 2012
Subject: Thank You!!
Fantastic!!! The TV shows are hard to come by and the movies are wonderful!!!

Reviewer: Noah 8-? - - April 9, 2012
Subject: Good Heavens - How Many?
30 cd's worth? You can about about 100 per cd.... an' there are 30 cd's here? WOW

Whatta collection! ! !

8-?

Reviewer: Thingone - - April 8, 2012
Subject: One of the best
Thanks for collecting these in one place, with TV episodes to boot. Can't go wrong with the smart-alecky Whistler. I haven't heard a stinker yet.